STRONG BRINK AND TOBACCO SMOKE. 45 



"111 182G the summer was remarkably dry nnd hot; 

 we could hardly sleep at night with the sheets on ; 

 the thermometer for several nights continued above 

 70° all the night through ; the crop of hops was 

 immense, scarcely a fly was to be found, and the 

 betted duty, which began in May at £120,000, rose 

 to £2G5,000 ; the old duty actually paid was 

 £269,331 Os. del, the gross duty £468,401 IQs. Id, 

 being the largest amount (until then) ever known. 

 From this it will appear that in duty alone a little 

 insignificant-looking fly has control over £450,000 

 annual income to the British Treasury ; and supposing 

 the hop grounds of England capable of paying this 

 duty annually, which they certainly are, it is very 

 manifest that in 1825 these creatures were the means 

 of robbing the Treasury of £426,000. This seems a 

 large sum, but it is not one-twentieth part of the 

 sums gained and lost by dealers during the year in 

 question. 



" The hop fly makes its first appearanpe generally 

 about the 12th of May, sometimes two days earlier, 

 but almost invariably between the 10th q,nd the 30tli ; 

 and it is worth noticing that it usually appears on the 

 same day in the four districts of Kent, Sussex, Farn- 

 ham and Worcester. It always makes its appearance 

 in the winged state. If the weather is warm, with 

 mild, kind rains, during the last twenty days of May 

 these flies begin to produce young ones, which are 

 very small, and are called dep(mt, or hills. These 



